CoinZoom Stops New Russian Users from Opening Accounts
Crypto News

CoinZoom Stops New Russian Users from Opening Accounts

2m"
2 years ago

Chief executive Todd Crosland said the move was in response to major payment processing companies suspending their operations following the country's invasion of Ukraine.

CoinZoom Stops New Russian Users from Opening Accounts

Mục lục

CoinZoom has become the first crypto exchange to stop new customers from opening accounts in Russia — but the American trading platform will not block existing users.

Chief executive Todd Crosland said the move was in response to major payment processing companies suspending their operations following the country's invasion of Ukraine. Speaking to Reuters, he said:

"It's a very fluid situation in Russia right now and it's very fluid with regulators, so being able to fund your account with a wire or a debit card, Mastercard, Visa — all of those funding mechanisms are being basically eliminated for Russian customers right now."

Crosland also confirmed that existing users are being screened against sanctioned lists to ensure the platform isn't used by anyone who is subject to economic restrictions by Western nations.

Listen to the CoinMarketRecap podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcasts

Restrictions Increase

Crypto exchanges have resisted calls to block all Russian users from their platforms. As well as arguing this goes against the industry's values, executives claim this would unfairly punish ordinary Russians who are facing unprecedented currency devaluation.

But Visa and Mastercard's suspension is already having an impact on those attempting to use crypto exchanges.

From tonight, transactions initiated with Visa and Mastercard credit and debit cards issued in Russia will no longer be available on Binance. Meanwhile, transactions initiated with cards from international financial institutions will no longer be processed within the Russian Federation.

PayPal — which has recently begun allowing its users to buy and sell digital assets in a small number of countries — suspended its operations in Russia last Saturday.

And in other developments, Circle — the issuer of the USDC stablecoin — has quietly announced that it is "temporarily disabling all fiat payments from accounts located in Russia, including payments from cards issued in Russia."

A number of major brands — Apple, IKEA and McDonald's among them — have shut their Russian stores or suspended product sales.

9 people liked this article